Automotive exterior lamp assembly with charge port

ABSTRACT

A vehicle includes a battery charger and an exterior lamp assembly. The assembly includes a housing defining a cavity, and an electrical port including at least one electrical terminal disposed within the cavity, electrically connected with the battery charger, and configured to be electrically connected with an electrical power grid remote from the vehicle.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 12/493,514,filed Jun. 29, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated inits entirety by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,331 to Hoffman et al. discloses an electricalconnector system for transmitting electrical energy for use withelectric vehicles. The electrical connector system includes a maleelectrical connector or plug with a first set of electrical contactsarranged along a common arc, and a female electrical connector orreceptacle with a second set of electrical contacts arranged along acommon arc. Both the receptacle and the plug have an apertured shutterfor selectively covering and uncovering its respective electricalcontacts to prevent inadvertent contact with the electrical contacts,and to protect the electrical contacts from the environment. In thepreferred embodiment, the shutters of the plug and receptacle arerotated to uncover the contacts only after full insertion of the pluginto the receptacle.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,098 to Kaneko discloses an electromagnetic inductiontype connection terminal for connecting a power supply station with abattery for charging the battery. The connection terminal has a chargingpaddle and charging receptacle. The charging paddle has a primary coilthat is supplied with a current from the power supply station. Thecharging receptacle has a secondary coil connected to the battery. Whenthe primary coil is supplied with a current from the power supplystation, an electromotive force is induced into the secondary coil. Thecharging receptacle has an enclosure for accommodating the secondarycoil. The enclosure forms a shield against electromagnetic waves.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,234 to Kajiura discloses a power supply paddle of acharger. The power supply paddle is provided at one end of a cableextending from a power source apparatus. A paddle holder casing whichreceives and holds therein the power supply paddle is obliquely providedon one side wall of a housing of the power source apparatus, so that anopening of the paddle holder casing is oriented slightly upwardly fromthe horizontal direction. The power supply paddle is received and heldin the paddle holder casing when it is not being used.

SUMMARY

A vehicle includes a battery charger and an exterior lamp assembly. Theassembly includes an electrical port that is electrically connected withthe battery charger and that can be electrically connected with anelectrical power grid remote from the vehicle. The assembly may furtherinclude an illumination source, and the vehicle may further include atleast one controller that, in response to the battery charger beingoperational, activates the illumination source. The assembly may furtherinclude an interface that displays information related to the batterycharger or vehicle. The electrical port may include at least oneelectrical terminal oriented in a generally downward direction. Theassembly may further include a housing defining a cavity and the atleast one electrical terminal may be disposed within the cavity. Theassembly may further include a panel to conceal the cavity. The panelmay be a door. The assembly may be a tail lamp assembly, a head lampassembly, a turn signal lamp assembly, a side marker lamp assembly, or acenter high mount stop lamp assembly.

A vehicle subsystem includes an exterior lamp assembly. The assemblyincludes an illumination source and an electrical port that can beelectrically connected with a power source remote from the vehicle. Theelectrical port may include at least one electrical terminal. Theassembly may further include a housing defining a cavity and the atleast one electrical terminal may be disposed within the cavity. Theassembly may further include a panel to conceal the cavity. The panelmay be a door. The assembly may be a tail lamp assembly, a head lampassembly, a turn signal lamp assembly, a side marker lamp assembly, or acenter high mount stop lamp assembly.

A vehicle includes a battery charger and an exterior lamp assembly. Theassembly includes a housing defining a cavity and an electrical portincluding at least one electrical terminal that is disposed within thecavity, is electrically connected with the battery charger, and can beelectrically connected with an electrical power grid remote from thevehicle. The at least one electrical terminal may be oriented in agenerally downward direction. The assembly may further include a panelto conceal the cavity. The panel may be a door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a lamp assembly.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the lamp assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an embodiment of an automotive vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

External electrical plug connections to vehicles may not be located ordesigned with ergonomic, environmental, complexity, and/or costconsiderations in mind. As an example, original equipment manufacturerinstallations of block heater connections often include a length ofelectric extension cord coiled and attached at, near, or behind thevehicle's front grille. These installations may be cumbersome and/ordifficult to use because of their location. In addition, any terminalsassociated with the cord may not be protected from the environment.

As another example, electrical plug connections of alternatively poweredvehicles may be provided within engine compartments, or behind doors ofbody panels. Accessing an electrical plug within an engine compartmentmay be inconvenient because of its location. Additionally, because somevehicles are provided in alternatively powered and conventionalversions, providing a door for a body panel may require separate sets oftooling: one set for a body panel without a door for the conventionalversion, and one set for the body panel with the door for thealternatively powered version. Separate sets of tooling may increase thecomplexity and cost associated with manufacturing the vehicle.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein provide an electrical portintegrated with a lamp assembly of a plug-in vehicle. The lamp assemblymay be, for example, a tail lamp assembly, a head lamp assembly, a turnsignal lamp assembly, a side marker lamp assembly, and/or a center highmount stop lamp assembly. Illumination sources for these assemblies mayinclude, for example, light bulbs, LEDs, LCDs, etc. (all generallyreferred to herein as lamps). The electrical port provides electricalaccess to a charging system for the vehicle's battery.

Some of these arrangements may reduce complexity and cost because, forexample, separate sets of body panel tooling are not necessary ifproducing alternatively powered and conventional versions of thevehicle. Some of these arrangements may also reduce bending and/orstooping by a user when connecting or disconnecting an electrical sourcewith the electrical port.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, an embodiment of an automotive tail lampassembly 10 may include a housing 12, lamps 14, lamp covers 16, and anelectrical port 18. While the electrical port 18 is located near thebottom of the assembly 10, in other embodiments, the electrical port 18may be disposed in any suitable location. The electrical port 18includes several blades 20. The blades 20 are configured to receive anelectrical socket similar to those found on household extension cords,and as explained below, may be electrically connected with a chargingsystem for a power storage unit. In other embodiments, the electricalport 28 may be an electrical socket, or any other suitable electricalconnector, etc.

The blades 20 may be disposed within a cavity formed by a surface 22 ofthe housing 12. (Alternatively, the blades 20 may extend away from thehousing 12). This cavity may shield the blades 20 from, for example,debris, water, etc. A spring loaded (or other type of) door 24(illustrated in the open position) may cover the opening of the cavityproviding further protection for the blades 20 from the environment. Inother embodiments, any suitable panel covering (e.g., sliding panel) maybe used to cover the opening of the cavity.

The cavity and blades 20 of FIGS. 1 and 2 are positioned atapproximately −20° relative to horizontal (an example of being orientedin a generally downward direction). This orientation may reduce theamount of debris and moisture that can accumulate within the cavity andon the blades 20. For example, gravity may act to draw particulatematter and water droplets out from the cavity. Of course, the cavity andblades 20 may have other upward or downward orientations.

The assembly 10 may further include an interface 26. In the embodimentof FIG. 1, the interface 26 includes a portion 28 configured to indicatestate of charge, as well as charge start and completion times using, forexample, LED, LCD, etc., technology. Control/input buttons 30 may permita user, for example, to scroll through various information presented viathe portion 28, or select a desired charge start time. Indicatorlights/lamps 32 may be lit to indicate state of charge: the higher thestate of charge, the more indicator lights 32 may be lit. (The lamps 14may also provide this feature.) Additionally, at least one of the lamps14 may be lit to indicate that the vehicle is plugged-in and/or that thevehicle's battery is being charged, etc. Other embodiments may includeany suitable interface conveying any desired information such asvehicle/charging diagnostic information, battery function/diagnosticinformation, etc.

Referring now to FIG. 3, numbered elements of FIG. 3 that differ by 100relative to the numbered elements of FIGS. 1 and 2 may have similardescriptions to the numbered elements of FIGS. 1 and 2. An embodiment ofan automotive vehicle 108 (electric vehicle, hybrid electric vehicle,etc.) may include a lamp assembly 110, battery charger 134, tractionbattery 136 and controller(s) 138. As known in the art, electrical powerstored by the traction battery 136 may be transformed to motive power tomove the vehicle 108.

The battery charger 134 is electrically connected with the charge port118 and traction battery 126. Power from an electrical grid may thus bepassed to the traction battery 136 via the charge port 118 and batterycharger 134. Electromagnetic shielding may surround some/all of theelectrical connections, and may take the form of a braided foil or othersuitable electromagnetic shielding. This shielding may reduce/eliminateunwanted electromagnetic noise as known in the art.

The controller(s) 138 may be in communication with and/or control thelamp 114, interface 126, battery charger 134 and/or traction battery136.

As discussed above, the lamp 114 and/or interface 116 may be used toconvey information about, for example, whether the vehicle 108 isplugged-in, the state of charge of the traction battery 136, etc. In theembodiment of FIG. 3, the controller(s) 138 may monitor the batterycharger 134, the traction battery 136, etc. in a known fashion, andcontrol the lamp 114 and/or interface 126 based on this information. Asan example, the controller(s) 138 may determine whether the vehicle 108is plugged-in based on whether the battery charger 134 is active. Ifactive, the controller(s) 138 may command the lamp 114 on. As anotherexample, the controller(s) 138 may determine the state of charge of thebattery 136 and command the interface 126 to display such information ina known fashion, etc. Other scenarios are also possible.

While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described,it is not intended that these embodiments illustrate and describe allpossible forms of the invention. The words used in the specification arewords of description rather than limitation, and it is understood thatvarious changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle comprising: a battery charger; anexterior lamp assembly including an electrical port electricallyconnected with the battery charger and configured to be electricallyconnected with an electrical power grid remote from the vehicle, and anillumination source; and at least one controller configured to, inresponse to the battery charger being operational, activate theillumination source.
 2. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the exteriorlamp assembly further includes an interface configured to displayinformation related to the battery charger or vehicle.
 3. The vehicle ofclaim 1, wherein the electrical port includes at least one electricalterminal.
 4. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the exterior lamp assemblyfurther includes a housing defining a cavity.
 5. The vehicle of claim 4,wherein the exterior lamp assembly further includes a panel to concealthe cavity.
 6. The vehicle of claim 5, wherein the panel is a door. 7.The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the exterior lamp assembly is a taillamp assembly, a head lamp assembly, a turn signal lamp assembly, a sidemarker lamp assembly, or a center high mount stop lamp assembly.
 8. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein the electrical port is located at a cornerof the exterior lamp assembly.
 9. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein theillumination source is configured to indicate state of charge.
 10. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein the illumination source is configured toindicate that the vehicle is plugged-in.